Apparatus for flowing wells



Jan. E7', 1939.

H. Ff CHAPMAN l 2,143,974

APPARATUS FOR FLOWING WELLS Filed April 22, 1955 2 sheets-sheet' 1 IN V EN TOR. HERBERT F. CHAPMAN ATTORNEYS.

`Fan. 17, 1939.

H. F, CHAPMAN APPARATUS FOR FLOWING WELLS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 22, 1955 INI/EN HERBERT E CHA TOR. PMAM A TTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 17, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR FLOWING WELLS ApplicationAprll 22, 1935, Serial No. 17,702

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an automatic timing device and particularly to an automatic timing device especially adapted to automatically control the flow of oil from a well.

In iiowing oil from wells it is necessary in many fields to raise the oil from the well hole by a fluid under pressure, such as air or gas, and such a method is commonly called an air, gas, or pressure lift. Due chiefly to the production restrictions put on the various oil fields and the individual wells, and to the manner in which theoil seeps from the oil bearing sands and accumulates in a well hole, it is not usually feasible to continuously flow .the oil from the well. Therefore the practice now in many instances is tovintermittently flow the oil from the well during relatively short controlled periods.

The object of this invention is to provide apparatus for controlling the flow of fluid.

Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus for intermittently controlling the flow of fluid.

Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus for automatically controliing'the intermittent flow of fluid.

Still another object of this invention is to provide apparatus for automatically controlling and timing the now of. oil from a well.

A further object of this inventionis to provide apparatus for predetermining the periods of oil fiow from a well and automatically controlling l and timing such periods.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following specification, and from a study of the attached drawings forming a part thereof, and wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views.

Fig., l. illustrates a well flowing apparatus and control means therefor,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of an embodiment of the weil flowing control means,

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the Well owlng control means illustrated in Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a detail of the Well flowing control means illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, andl y Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic illustration of another detail of the well flowing control means shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

InFig. 1 there is illustrated a portion of a well hole having secured therein the casing pipe II) and the tubing pipe II. -A pipe I2 is adapted to supply fluid, such as air' or gas, under pressure .to the top of the tubing pipe I I. This iiuid under pressure travels downwardly into the well hole through the tubing, as indicated by the arrows. and forces the oil in the bottom of the hole upwardly between the casing pipe I0 and tubing pipe II to the surface, as indicated by the arrows. Any suitable type o1' valve such as the one I3 is interposed in the line I2 for controlling the application of pressure to the well-to cause the oil to flow therefrom. This method of flowing wells is old, and forms no part of the present invention.

A pressure actuated .diaphragm I4, through the rod I5, controls the valve I3. Fluid under pressure is supplied through the pipe line IB to op- -erate the diaphragm I4, and whenpressureis applied thereto the valve I3 will be opened to admit fluid under pressure to flow through pipe I2 into the tubing I i and cause the well to low in the manner described.

A control device housed in the casing 20 is interposed 1n the une Is to control the flow of in the casing 20 any suitable motor such as a clock mechanism, generally designated by the numeral 2l, for driving the shaft 22 to which there is keyed a pulley wheel 23 having a groove in its peripheral edge to accommodate the belt Also `mounted within the casing 20 is a shaft 25 journaledl in any suitable manner and to which is keyed a pulley wheel 26 also having a groove in its peripheral edge to accommodate the belt 24. l

In lieu of the pulley wheels 23 and 26 and the belt 2l there may be provided gear wheels and a chain, or any other suitable means of transmitting the rotary motion of shaft 22 to shaft 25. Secured to and rotatable with the shaft 25 is a disc 21 having secured to one face thereof a set of removable and replaceable circumferentially aligned lugs `or projections 28 which are equidistant from the center of the disc and from each other. This'set of lugs 28 are arranged relatively close to the outer peripheral edge of the disc 2l, and a second` set of lugs 29 are arranged in substantiallythe same manner except that they are closer to the center of the disc.

The motor 2| may be of any suitable type and speed described, but in order to present a concrete-example of one embodiment of the present invention it will be described as a spring driven clock motor of such a speed that the shaft 22 and the pulley wheel 23 keyed thereto make one com` plete rotation in every twenty-four hours. In order to further and more comprehensively describe a complete andA operable embodiment of this present invention the pulley wheel 26 will be described as having a ratio of four to one with thepulley wheel 23. As the disc 21 is keyed together with the pulley 26 to the shaft 25 and rotated therewith when driven by the wheel 23 through the belt 24, the disc 21 will therefore make four complete rotations to every one rotation ofthe wheel 23, or will rotate once in every six hours.

'Ihe disc 21 is divided into six sectors as indicated by the numerals 3| to 36, and shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 5. The disc is further divided into a plurality of concentric circular sections constituting areas within which the several sets of circumferentialiy aligned lugs are positioned. In Fig. there is illustrated only two such areas, namely 31 and 38, in which are located the sets of lugs 28 and 2,9 respectively. The lugs constituting the set 28 are formed of such a size as to present circumferentially aligned raised surfaces which total one twenty-fourth of the circumferential path in which they are located. Stated differently, each of the several lugs of the set 28 presents a raised surface which is equal to onefourth of the circumferential path through any of the sectors in which it is located. As previously stated the disc 21 makes one complete rotation every six hours, therefore each of the sectors 3| to 36 represents a one hour period, and each lug or projection of the set 28 represents a fifteen minute period.

The lugs of the set 29 are of such a size with relation to the length of the circumferential path in which they are aligned as to present raised surfaces which total one-twelfth of the entire circumferential path through these lugs. Therefore each lug represents a period of thirty minutes.

Various sets of circumferentially aligned rows ol lugs positioned at varying distances from the diameter of disc 21 may be provided to effect other arrangements for controlling any desired period of time.

The sets of lugs 28 and 29 are adapted to intermittently control and actuate for predetermined periods the pilot valve contained Within the housing 20, and so regulate the flow of fluid through the pipe |6 to diaphragm i4 and in this manner intermittently actuate at various time intervals the valve i3 and thereby causing the well to flow.

Secured to the housing 20 and actuated and controlled by mechanism there within is a pilot valve shown in detail in Fig. 4 which includes a valve body 48, interposed in the line I6, a neck 4| on the body, ports 42 and 43 constituting inlet and voutlet ports respectively in connection with the line I6, and which are connected with an elongated bore 44 extending through the valve body 40 and neck 4|, by means of the channels 45 and 46. One end of the valve body is formed with the partially screw threaded recessed portion 41 communicating with the bore 44 and channel 45, and which is sealed by the screw threaded plug 48, having formed therein the chamber 49. At one end the bore 44 is provided with a valve seat 56 for the valve head 5| which includes an elongatedl tapered pin or stem 52 extending into the bore 44 past the port 46, and which terminates in an enlarged stem 53 located within the neck 4| of the valve body. The valve head 5| is also provided with a short stub 54 which serves as a guide for the spring 55 contained within the chamber 49 and which bears against the valve head 5| to maintain it in place on the seat 50. A collar 69 is loosely mounted upon the neck 4| of the valve body and is held in position thereon by a set screw 6|, and has formed therewith an upright member 82 to which is Pivoted at 63 the arm 84. The arm 64 terminates in a head 85 carrying a roller 66 adapted to engage the face of disc 21 and thesets of lugs or projections carried thereon. As the collar 60 may be rotated with respect to the valve body neck 4| and heldin position thereon at any desired place the arm 84 may be positioned so that the roller will be capable of contacting either of the lug sets 28 or 29, or any additional sets which may be placed on the disc 21.

From the disclosure immediately above it will be appreciated that the spring 55 bears upon the valve head 5| causing it to be pressed against the seat 58, and at the same time forces the valve stem 52 and the extension 53 thereof outwardly to bear against the arm 64 at a point 10, and thereby forces the head 65, of arm 64, and the roller 66 carried thereon, in contact with the disc 21 and any set of lugs carried thereby.

Assuming that it is desired to cause the well to iiow fora period of fifteen minutes once every hour, in such case the arm 64 would be in the position shown in Fig. 2 and the roller 66 in the circumferential path of the set of lugs 28. As the disc 21 rotates once every six hours, the arm will be raised six times during the course of this period at intervals of three-quarters of an hour and remain raised each time forA fifteen minutes. When the arm 64 is raised by the lugs 28 the valve stem extension 53 is contacted at the point 10 and pushed into the valve body 40, thereby unseating the valve head 5| from the seat 5| and allowing the fluid under pressure to flow in line i6 through the valve body to diaphragm I4 thereby actuating the rod i5 to open the valve I3. With valve 3 open fluid under pressure flows through pipe l2 into the well to raise the oil to the surface. So

llong as the roller 66 is contacting one of the lugs of the set 28 the arm 64 will maintain the valve head 5| unseated, and the fluid under pressure flowing therethrough into the line |6 will serve as described to maintain valve I3 open, thus causing the oil to flow from the well. When the disc 21 has rotated sufficiently so that the roller 68 is not contacting one of the lugs of the set 28 as above described, the valve head 5| will be allowed to reseat itself and an interval of threequarters of an hour will elapse before another lug of the set 28 is encountered by the roller 66 and the well caused to reflow.

It is to be understood that the arm 64, by virtue of being mounted on the rotatable collar 60, is capable of being shifted so that the roller 66 will be capable of engaging any sets of lugs or projections that may be positioned on the disc 21, and so control for any predetermined periods of time, and at any desired time intervals, the flow of oil from the well. For instance the set of lugs 28 are of such a size with respect to the length of theK circumferential path in which they are aligned that when the roller 66 is positioned to contact them it will do so approximately onehalf of the time, thus giving alternate periods of one-half hour during which the well is owing and not owing.

It is to be understood that by modifying the disc 21, the various sets of lugs, the speed of the motor, the size of either pulley Wheels 23 and 24, or the ratio therebetween, that endless arrangements may be had whereby the flow of the Well can be controlled at predetermined periods, and for any desired lengths of time.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: 4

1. In an apparatus for controlling the admission of gas to a Well hole for raising the iluid therein including a pipe for conducting gas to said well, a time controlled mechanism for intermittently controlling the admission of gas to said well, comprising a valve, means to actuate said valv'e at predetermined intervals including a disc driven at constant speed provided with radially spaced series of circumferentially aligned lugs and means operatively associated with said valve and adjustably mounted to contact a selected series o said lugs.

2. In an apparatus for controlling the admission of gas to a Well hole for raising the fluid therein' including a pipe for conducting gas to said well, in combination, a time controlled mechanism for intermittently controlling the admission of gas to said well comprising a valve, and means to actuate said valve at predetermined intervals comprising rotatable means driven at constant speed provided with radially spaced series of circumferentially aligned lugs and pivoted means operatively associated with said valve and movable into positions to contact a selected series of said lugs. l

3. In an apparatus for controlling the admission of gas to a well for raising iiuid therefrom including a pipe for conducting gas to said well, a time controlled mechanism for intermittently admitting gas to said well including, in combination a valve and means to actuate said valve at predetermined intervals comprising a rotatable element driven at constant speed provided with radially spaced series of circumferentially aligned lugs and means operatively associated with said valve and adjustably mounted to engage a selected series of said lugs.

4. In an apparatus for controlling the admission of gas to a well for raising uid therefrom including a pipe for conducting gas to said well, a time controlled mechanism for controlling the admission of gas to said well comprising a valve provided with an operating stem, a rotatable disc, a series of circumferentially aligned lugs on said disc, a second series of circumferentially aligned lugs radially spaced from said first series, an arm pivotally mounted on said valve, a second arm pivotally mounted on said first arm and adapted to contact said operating stem and a selected series of said lugs to operate said valve at a selected time interval. g

HERBERT F. CHAPMAN. 

